OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is an association between obesity and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) among reproductive-aged African American women (AAW). METHODS: From the women participating in an ongoing National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences study, 1,654 AAW aged 23 to 35 were included in this study. Anthropometric measurements, personal health information, and serum AMH and adipokine levels were analyzed. RESULTS: The median body mass index (BMI) was 32...

Cigarette smoking and marijuana use have been tied to increased risky sexual behaviors, which may exacerbate risk of HIV transmission and other STIs (sexually transmitted infections). Research suggests that change in general perceptions of risk is associated with change in non-domain-targeted behaviors. The goal of the current study was to determine whether change in general risk perceptions among African American college females enrolled in a culturally-tailored HIV prevention intervention would be associated with decreased cigarette and marijuana use over time...

Racial/ethnic minority women in a disadvantaged urban neighborhood may experience a high rate of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. This brief report examined the frequency of a PTSD diagnosis and subthreshold PTSD among 72 female participants with depressive symptoms in a mindfulness-based intervention for depression at an urban federally qualified health center (FQHC). The MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to assess PTSD diagnosis or subthreshold PTSD, and the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report (IDS-SR) was used to assess depressive symptoms...

This study explores gender values and beliefs among Latino and African American men with diabetes and examines how these values and beliefs may influence their health behaviors. Participants were recruited from individuals who participated in one of three Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Detroit Partnership diabetes self-management interventions. One focus group was conducted with African American men (n = 10) and two focus groups were conducted with Latino men (n = 12) over a 3-month period...

Despite being the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, the correlates and consequences of neglect are poorly understood, particularly during early adulthood. The present multi-wave, longitudinal study sought to address this gap in this literature by examining physical and emotional neglect in emerging adults in a diverse community sample. 580 adolescents (AgeMean=18.25; AgeSD=0.59; 58.3% female; 31% Hispanic, 28.9% Caucasian; 26.2% African-American; 13.9% other) completed self-report measures for child maltreatment at baseline, and measures for depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and substance use every year for three years...

Previous cross-sectional studies examining whether John Henryism (JH), or high-effort coping with socioeconomic adversity, potentiates the inverse association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and cardiovascular health have focused mainly on hypertension in African Americans. We conducted the first longitudinal test of this hypothesis on incident acute myocardial infarction (AMI) using data from the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study in Finland (N = 1405 men, 42-60 years). We hypothesized that the expected inverse gradient between SEP and AMI risk would be stronger for men scoring high on JH than for those scoring low...

OBJECTIVES: Growing evidence indicates that ambient (AAP: NO2 , PM2.5 and O3 ) and traffic-related air pollutants (TRAP) contribute to metabolic disease risk in adults; however, few studies have examined these relationships in children. METHODS: Metabolic profiling was performed in 429 overweight and obese African-American and Latino youth living in urban Los Angeles, California. This cross-sectional study estimated individual residential air pollution exposure and used linear regression to examine relationships between air pollution and metabolic outcomes...

BACKGROUND: Nitric oxide helps maintain vascular function and is generated through the oxidation of arginine. Whether altered arginine metabolism may lead to elevated levels of inflammation in HIV is unclear. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of HIV-infected adults on stable ART with HIV-1 RNA < 50 copies/mL and HIV-uninfected controls. We measured biomarkers in the arginine pathway, markers of systemic inflammation, and monocyte activation. T-tests, chi-square tests and propensity score matching analyses were used to compare markers by HIV status, and multiple linear regressions were used to assess associations of arginine metabolites with markers of inflammation...

INTRODUCTION: The obesity epidemic is reflected by increasing numbers of morbidly obese patients being admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). These are complicated patients whose care involves many diagnostic and treatment challenges. We are presenting a fatal case of super obesity, hypoventilation, and multi-organ failure known as malignant obesity hypoventilation syndrome (MOHS). CASE PRESENTATION: 35 year old African American gentleman with a body mass index (BMI) of 115 kg/m(2) presented to the hospital with respiratory distress...

This is a case of a 66-year-old African American male with history of end stage renal disease due to polycystic disease and failed right kidney transplant. He presents with asymptomatic hematuria, and diagnostic angiography was performed which showed incidental anastomotic site pseudoaneurysm. Our patient had an unusual presentation of a pseudoaneurysm. Pseudoaneurysms associated with failed renal transplants are typically detected within weeks after transplantation and along with failure of the transplant...

BACKGROUND: There is little information regarding lipid profiles of racially mixed populations. Differently from other Latin American countries, the proportion of African ancestry is much higher in Brazil. OBJECTIVE: Verify whether there are differences in the lipid profile between black and white subjects and if people with mixed ancestry have a pattern more closely resembling whites or blacks. METHODS: A total of 15,105 civil servants aged 35-74 years from the ELSA-Brasil study had their fasting lipid profile determined...

In light of New York's recently reinforced strategy to end the AIDS epidemic by expanding testing, treatment, and access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), we assessed drug use and sexual risk behaviors, along with HIV/Hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission and prevention knowledge among non-treatment-seeking adults with opioid use disorder (OUD) in New York City. Over the course of 18 months, volunteers screening for research studies in the Opioid Laboratory at the New York State Psychiatric Institute completed a locally developed self-assessment questionnaire...

This study focuses on the analysis of the early work of Howard W. Odum (1884-1954) and the examination of the psychological aspects that marked his reflection on African American music. This analysis reveals many of the aspects that were generically shared by the psychological agenda of the period when analyzing aesthetic experience and activity. Outstanding among these are the relationship of the musical phenomenon with very basic or primary affective-emotional dimensions, the conception of the musical phenomenon as an indicator of the cognitive-affective development of human groups, its expression in the form of cultural and complex intersubjective products, or its possible participation in the technoscientific design of social reform and progress...

Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a delayed hypersensitivity reaction that occurs when the skin is re-exposed to a substance to which it was previously sensitized. One significant source of exposure to sensitizing chemicals is through personal grooming and beauty products. While the role of cosmetics and hair-care products in the development of ACD is well-documented, there has been very little literature that specifically addresses the role of hair-care practices of patients with tightly curled hair, such as in patients of African descent, in the development of ACD in this population...

Current demographic trends in the United States highlight the growing population of those who identify as having "skin of color." As such, dermatologists must have a greater comfort level and knowledge in treating some of the unique skin and hair conditions seen in this population. Understanding the scientific basis for the evolution of skin color and hair texture is necessary in order to understand the variations in the characteristics of skin and hair seen among racial and ethnic groups. This review seeks to highlight the current scientific explanation of skin color and hair texture, with special attention to people of African descent, in an attempt to give insight into the clinical presentations of hair and skin disorders seen in this group...

This article discusses various aspects of pastoralism in the Latin American countries with the largest dryland areas. The topics covered include: social, economic and institutional issues; grasslands and their carrying capacity; production systems and productivity rates; competition for forage resources between domestic livestock and wildlife; and the health status of livestock and wildlife. Most grasslands exhibit some degree of degradation. The percentage of offspring reaching weaning age is low: 47-66% of calves and 40-80% of lambs...

The realization of personalized medicine through human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology can be advanced by transcriptomics, epigenomics, and bioinformatics that inform on genetic pathways directing tissue development and function. When possible, population diversity should be included in new studies as resources become available. Previously we derived replicate iPSC lines of African American, Hispanic-Latino and Asian self-designated ethnically diverse (ED) origins with normal karyotype, verified teratoma formation, pluripotency biomarkers, and tri-lineage in vitro commitment...

The role played by epistasis between alleles at unlinked loci in shaping population fitness has been debated for many years and the existing evidence has been mainly accumulated from model organisms. In model organisms, fitness epistasis can be systematically inferred by detecting nonindependence of genotypic values between loci in a population and confirmed through examining the number of offspring produced in two-locus genotype groups. No systematic study has been conducted to detect epistasis of fitness in humans owing to experimental constraints...

BACKGROUND: We examined racial/ethnic disparities in school-based behavioral health service use for children with psychiatric disorders. METHODS: Medicaid claims data were used to compare the behavioral healthcare service use of 23,601 children aged 5-17 years by psychiatric disorder (autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], conduct/oppositional defiant disorder, and "other") and by race/ethnicity (African-American, Hispanic, white, and other). Logistic and generalized linear regression analyses were used...

Perfectionistic self-presentation (PSP) has been identified as a vulnerability factor in the development of depressive disorders during early adolescence. The Perfectionism Social Disconnection Model (PSDM) offers a theoretical framework suggesting PSP leads to depressive symptoms via interpersonal problems and social disconnection. Previous studies have supported the role of social disconnection as a mediator in the relation between PSP and suicidal ideation, but have not evaluated interpersonal problems in the model...